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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Chaos in Egypt; UPS Plane Goes Down in Alabama Field; Warrants: DiMaggio "Tortured & Killed" Hannah's Mom, Brother; Jesse Jackson Jr. Gets 30 Months in Prison

Aired August 15, 2013 - 05:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Massacre in Egypt. Hundreds killed as the country military smashes protest. The question is, has this new revolution already begun. We are live.

ZORAIDA SAMBOLIN, CNN ANCHOR: Tortured and murdered. Chilling new details released in the case of a California man who police say killed his friend, her son and kidnapped her daughter.

BERMAN: New questions this morning on what caused a UPS jet to crash on to an Alabama field. Dramatic pictures right there.

SAMBOLIN: Good morning and welcome to EARLY START. We are happy you are with us. I'm Zoraida Sambolin.

BERMAN: Great to see you this morning. I'm John Berman. It is Thursday, August 15th. It is 5:00 a.m. in the East.

SAMBOLIN: And we will begin this morning in Egypt, in a state of emergency now, amid the bloodiest violence in two years. At least 421 people are dead, thousands more injured after police moved in to try and disperse two sit-ins filled with supporters of ousted Mohamed Morsy. But the supporters fought back.

Reza Sayah is live in Cairo this morning.

Reza, what's the latest?

REZA SAYAH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Zoraida, it is eerily calm and quiet here in Cairo and that probably has a lot to do with the emergency law that went into effect last night. At the same time, you can almost feel the cloud of uncertainty hanging over this city and this country a sense of dread after yesterday's awful events.

Many are describing what happened yesterday as a massacre. And with the staggering death toll and increasingly it's going to be tough to dispute that. The new death toll according to the health ministry, 400 killed, more than 3,500 injured. All of this the outcome of a ferocious crackdown by security forces targeting two pro-Morsy sit-in demonstrations that have been going on for six weeks.

There are a lot of rumors swirling around over the past couple of weeks, that this crackdown would happen. Six-thirty a.m. yesterday morning, it came. And again, it came with ferocity. There are conflicting accounts as to what happened. The interior ministry here, authorities claim that they tried to move the protesters out peacefully, with nonlethal weapons, using water cannons and tear gas. Authorities claim that protesters fired first and they had to retaliate with lethal weapons.

But when you talk to the protesters, supporters of the former president, Mohamed Morsy, they have a different story. They say security forces came in blazing, shooting at protesters. And when you have these conflicting accounts, it's important for us to describe what we saw.

And from our vantage point, Zoraida, we can tell you that many of the protesters who were injured and killed were unarmed, again, from our vantage point. And moving forward, this military-backed interim government has a lot of difficult questions to answer about yesterday's operation -- Zoraida.

SAMBOLIN: Definitely, if we look at the images, I have to tell you, Reza, it's very, very disturbing.

You mentioned earlier that it's eerily quiet right now. So, is there an undercurrent or is there any information that is being disseminated some other way, whether it's on Twitter or Facebook of what could be to come?

SAYAH: Well, the government is certainly speaking. Yesterday, the prime minister and the interior minister delivered statements justifying this deadly crackdown, saying they were obliged to do it. Over the past few weeks, they were describing this as a threat to national security. They repeatedly claimed that there were links to terrorism when it came to these demonstrations.

But, again, it's important to stress that we have been out there for the past six weeks and we simply didn't observe, in these demonstrations, in these sit-in demonstrations any activity that could be linked to terrorism.

However, this was the narrative that was pushed by the government. They are still pushing it today, using it as justification for what happened yesterday.

SAMBOLIN: All right. Reza Sayah, live in Cairo for us this morning. You know, the big question is what is the United States going to do, if anything, right?

BERMAN: It is. You know, before I get to that, I want to say -- Reza talked about from his vantage point. We are so lucky to have his vantage point.

He was on the ground over the last 24 hours, as this was all happening. Reza saw the bodies. We were with Reza when the he saw the bodies were carried behind him.

SAMBOLIN: Terrible.

BERMAN: It so crucial to have his point of view. It's important to have this brave reporting by Reza.

Now, to the U.S. The White House condemning the crackdown in Egypt, though, I should say, choosing its words carefully, calling it a step in the wrong direction and a sign that the interim government there may not be interested in a return to democracy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH EARNEST, WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN: Violence will only make it more difficult to move Egypt forward on the path to lasting stability and democracy and runs directly counter to the pledges by the interim government, to pursue reconciliations. It is an indication that they are not currently following through on that promise, to transition back to a democratically elected civilian government, that they are not committed to an inclusive process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Secretary of State John Kerry is calling on both sides to seek a political solution to the crisis. Though, it seems late.

SAMBOLIN: Yes.

The U.N. weapons inspectors may soon be on the ground in Syria. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says the Assad regime has agreed to this trip, which would last two weeks and it would look into whether chemical weapons were used during the civil war. There have been more than a dozen reports of chemical weapons used since this conflict began.

BERMAN: To Alabama now, in a deadly crash of a UPS cargo jet slamming to the ground near Birmingham's airport. Both pilots on board were killed.

And as David Mattingly reports, many who live near the scene are counting their blessings tit was not worse.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID MATTINGLY, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The broken and burnt wreckage of the A-300 cargo plane sits in an open field a half mile from a neighborhood. Nearby, broken trees and power lines show how close this jet came to killing people in their homes.

BARBARA BENSON, WITNESSED CRASH: I'm thankful that it did not kill us, you know, because that's dangerous. I mean, it was just like the plane was like this and we were in the middle.

MATTINGLY: Pieces of the plane littered Barbara Benson's yard, the last seconds of what had been an uneventful flight. The UPS plane was out of Louisville, Kentucky, flying over rooftops, people awoke to what sounded like a flight in trouble.

SHARON WILSON, WITNESSED CRASH: It was extreme low. And then it sounded like it was sputtering like it was out of fuel.

MATTINGLY: Seconds later, fire and explosions.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard three booms, I heard boom, boom, boom.

MATTINGLY: Federal crash investigators are only beginning to find answers, a mystery compounded by an absence of critical communication.

David Mattingly, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BERMAN: We are learning more this morning about the tragic events surrounding the kidnapping of San Diego teenager Hannah Anderson. Unsealed warrants revealed that he tortured and killed her mother and brother and set fire to his house before snatching Hannah as she left cheer leading practice.

There had been 13 calls between Hannah and DiMaggio that day before her phone was turned off. Autopsy reports showed that DiMaggio was shot at least five times by FBI agents during Hannah's rescue in Idaho.

SAMBOLIN: Army private Bradley Manning is apologizing for leaking reams of classified materials to WikiLeaks. Manning spoke during the sentencing phase of his court martial. He told the judge that he is sorry for his actions because they hurt people and the country. He's facing up to 90 years in prison. As part of their plea for leniency, lawyers showed a picture of Manning in a blond wig and make up, which he e-mailed to a superior claiming he was mentally unstable when he leaked the documents.

BERMAN: So, you know, we know how powerful water can be during floods, washing away cars and people in flood zones.

SAMBOLIN: Yes.

BERMAN: What happens when they finally recede? This happens. This buckled road in Hutchinson, Kansas, an area hit hard by flooding last week and more heavy rain earlier this week. Officials say the floodwaters washed away some of the ground under the road causing it to give way.

SAMBOLIN: Indra Petersons has her eye on the forecast for us this morning.

Any more rain on tap? This is all we've been talking, all this crazy rain.

INDRA PETERSONS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I mean, really, this is a familiar story now. More and more rain, really in that area, that about three inches of rain in the last three days. But, for this month already, it's pretty early in the month. They have seen 12 inches, about four times the amount they typically would for this month already.

We've still got a ways to go. In fact, you can actually today, we have a severe outlook today from South Dakota, going all the way through Texas, as we see couple of disturbances kind of kick off in the Rockies. So, even more thunderstorms possible in the forecast in that region today. But all eyes really on the South. We're talking about a potential for some very heavy rainfall and flooding. This is actually the current radar right now.

I want to show you a couple things that are going on now. We keep talking about stationary fronts in the region, and all this moisture that could come out of the gulf. Well, the reason we are talking about this is not just the stationary front. But there's a 70 percent chance of development into the Caribbean. It could go into the gulf and merge there with the stationary front that is already in place.

Now, if that happens, look at that tropical moisture. You are not talking about that really spreading all the way in through Georgia, even into the Carolinas. Not just Florida. We're talking about three to five inches, potentially, even as much as eight inches of rain.

And, you know, we have been talking about places with record rainfalls for the summer already. So, definitely not a good thing.

SAMBOLIN: You are not popular these days.

PETERSONS: I really am not --

SAMBOLIN: Thank you.

(LAUGHTER)

SAMBOLIN: All right. Some new insights into just what President Obama did on the day of the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. Have you heard this? Have you seen this famous photo of the president in the Situation Room while the raid was actually taking place?

Well, now, his former body man Reggie Love tells a lunch at the UCLA the president wanted a distraction while events were unfolding, and that he spent at least part of the day playing cards in the private dining room.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REGGIE LOVE, FORMER SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT: Most people were down in the situation room. He said I'm not going to be here. I can't watch this entire thing. So, he, myself, Souza, the White House photographer, Marvin, we played -- we must have played 15 hands, 15 games of spades.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAMBOLIN: So, Love called it a very, very long day.

BERMAN: Can you imagine?

SAMBOLIN: That's how you decompress, right?

BERMAN: The night before, the president delivered that comedy routine at the White House correspondents' dinner. So, this alternative world and lifestyle going on while there was one of the most intricate military operations in the world. Fascinating.

All right. Ten minutes after the hour, coming up here --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSE JACKSON, JR. (D), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: I still believe in the power of forgiveness. I believe in the power of redemption.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Jesse Jackson Jr. seeking redemption as he prepares to spend months in jail from spending money from his own campaign. But is the former congressman's political career really over?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's time for this to be over. With each passing day, we lose another day with our daughter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAMBOLIN: And a new twist in a really bitter custody battle between the adoptive parents of a little girl and the birth father simply refusing to give her back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAMBOLIN: Welcome back to EARLY START. It is 14 minutes after the hour.

He was the brightest, rising star in the Democratic Party. But now, Jesse Jackson Jr. is a felon and will soon be out his way to jail.

Athena has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATHENA JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Disgraced former congressman, Jesse Jackson Jr., is preparing to spend 30 months in prison.

An emotional day in court for his family, capping a spectacular political downfall. Now he's asking for redemption.

JESSE JACKSON JR., FORMER CONGRESSMAN: I still believe in the power of forgiveness. I believe in the power of redemption. Today I manned up and tried to accept responsibility for the errors of my ways.

JONES: The charge, misusing $750,000 in campaign funds at his personal treasure chest, spending the money on lavish dinners, nightclubs, lounges, a $43,000 Rolex watch, even Michael Jackson memorabilia.

After Jackson serves his time, his wife Sandra will spend 12 months in prison for filing false tax returns.

His father spoke after the sentencing.

REV. JESSE JACKSON, CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST: This has been an extraordinarily difficult time for the family. I speak today as a father.

JONES: Jesse Jr. once had a promising political career. The eldest son of a civil rights legend, he was elected to Congress in 1995. He even asked to speak in the Democratic National Convention in 2008.

JESSE JACKSON JR.: I grew up with the lessons of another generation, the Selma generation, my father's generation.

JONES: Before being sentenced, Jackson wept as he addressed the court, saying, "I was wrong. I know I have let a lot of people down."

So, can he ever regain political promise?

CLARENCE PAGE, CHICAGO TRIBUNE COLUMNIST: It's been a family that we watched, just like the Kennedys, you know, through ups and downs. And so, there's a continuing soap opera. But I don't think it's over yet.

JONES: Athena Jones, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SAMBOLIN: Sixteen minutes past the hour.

Michael Jackson's former wife said doctors actually competed to give the singer painkillers.

Testifying in his family's wrongful death suit against the concert promoter, Debbie Rowe said a slew of doctors took advantage of Jackson, trying to outbid each other and the best way to treat his pain. They were the ones who first introduced him to Propofol, the anesthetic the overdoes on when he died in 2009.

BERMAN: Family and friends are mourning the death of Gia Allemand, a former contestant on "The Bachelor". Her family says the 29 year old has been taken off life support two days after an apparent suicide attempt at her home in New Orleans.

While Allemand was not chosen by the bachelor in her 2010 appearance. She did go on to compete in the spin-off series, "Bachelorette."

SAMBOLIN: So sad.

Could a resolution be in the works for a very bitter custody battle that has spread from Oklahoma to South Carolina and back again. Both sides are making moves now and they hope it might lead to a final, forever home for 3-year-old veronica.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANIE CAPOBIANCO, BABY VERONICA'S ADOPTIVE MOTHER: What we seek is peace for our daughter. SAMBOLIN (voice-over): Melanie and Matt Capobianco speaking about Baby Veronica, the child they adopted and raised for two years before losing her in a bitter custody dispute. Wednesday, they arrived in Oklahoma to try to regain custody.

MELANIE CAPOBIANCO: As soon as we arrived, we requested a visit to our daughter. As a mother, my heart broke when our request was denied.

MATT CAPOBIANCO, BABY VERONICA'S ADOPTIVE FATHER: It's time for this to be over. Each day, we lose a day with our daughter.

SAMBOLIN: Dusten Brown is baby Veronica's biological father. Four years ago, Brown waived his parental rights. A member of the Cherokee Nation, Brown later changed his mind, arguing federal law protects Native American children from being separated from their families. He was awarded custody in December of 2011.

But the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the adoptive parents and South Carolina ordered the baby ordered back to the Capobiancos.

Now, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin is weighing, tweeting Wednesday, quote, "Mr. and Mrs. Capobianco deserve an opportunity to meet with their adoptive daughter. They also deserve the chance to meet with Mr. Brown and put an end to this conflict.

Monday, Brown turned himself into Oklahoma authorities after failing to show up to a court appearance. He was freed on $10,000 bond. But he still faces an extradition order to South Carolina, an order the Oklahoma governor promises to expedite if Brown fails to cooperate.

(END VDIEOTAPE)

SAMBOLIN: So messy. Brown's attorney told CNN, at his client's request, and the governor's suggestion, he reached out to the couple's representative to discuss a resolution in the best interest of Baby Veronica, including an offer to meet personally with the Capobianco. That next hearing in the case is set for September 12th.

I have to tell you, when you start hearing what the parents are saying, the adoptive parents, it sounds like they would be willing to actually have some sort of resolution where he can be, the biological father can be in the life of the little girl as well.

BERMAN: Just look at these pictures of his beautiful little girl.

SAMBOLIN: They all love her, clearly, right?

BERMAN: They all adore her. She is being cared for, which is wonderful. But you do want to see a resolution as soon as possible.

SAMBOLIN: Yes.

BERMAN: All right. Coming up, big job news. Cisco, their profits continue to rise, but they are slashing jobs. So, why the layoffs if times are so good? "Money Time", next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAMBOLIN: Welcome back to EARLY START. Twenty-three minutes past the hour.

You know what time it is?

BERMAN: It's "Money Time".

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, you guys. Good morning.

Look, we are watching Cisco stock this morning. It's sharply lower in the pre-market, after nearly 10 percent sell off Wednesday. That is a big move. And Cisco is a widely held stock. You probably have this on your 401(k).

The CEO John Chambers stunned investors by announcing there will be 4,000 job cuts, or about 5 percent of the workforce as part of the cost-cutting move in what he called a challenging and inconsistent environment. The company earned $2.8 billion on sales of $12.4 billion. That sounds good, right?

But those weren't the numbers Wall Street was hoping for and used to. Cisco is the biggest maker of networking equipment and a window on how the economy is doing since Cisco touches so many technology nerves across businesses. >

Another important window on the economy today, Walmart releasing earnings this morning. Wall Street optimistic that the company will report a sizable increase in profits. What the company says about that for fall shopping season, which behind the holidays, it's the most important period for retailers.

Macy's disappointed investors Wednesday, reporting a decline in sales. Stocks fell 4 1/2 percent on the news. Remember, we are closely watching to see how consumers are surviving what is still a challenging environment for the economy without jobs growing more robustly.

And a surprise on the foreclosure front. Housing markets are recovering from the debts of the crisis, they are recovering. Others seem to be stumbling into it. These foreclosure hot spots are not in places you wouldn't expect.

Maryland, for example, saw foreclosures filings skyrocket 275 percent. Oregon, saw filings surged 137 percent. New Jersey's foreclosures spiked 89 percent. Connecticut and New York, you can see the numbers.

Experts say these are states where the government kept a lid on foreclosure activity during the worst of the housing crisis. And that might be coming back to haunt them. So, we haven't seen the worst of it. Still, sort of I will call the death rows of the foreclosure crisis. You are seeing spikes in some of these states. Maryland. (CROSSTALK)

SAMBOLIN: Wow.

ROMANS: Unbelievable. That's right.

SAMBOLIN: All right. Thank you, Christine.

ROMANS: You're welcome.

BERMAN: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SAMBOLIN: The sunrises on a blood bath in Egypt. Hundreds killed as the military crushes the protest there. Meanwhile, Islamists burn police stations. We are live as the death toll continues to rise.

BERMAN: A doctor intentionally misdiagnosing his patients, giving them chemotherapy when they didn't have cancer. Why the fed say he did it?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRINCE WILLIAM OF ENGLAND: He is pretty large and, of course, extremely good looking.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAMBOLIN: Because he looks like his mother.

Prince William back at work and on the record about life as a brand- new dad. He said that himself. It's not just me saying that. He's adorable because he looks like his mother.

BERMAN: He's so freaking charming, you know? He's rich, a prince, and charming all at once -- unfair.

Welcome back to EARLY START, everyone. Just commoners here. I'm John Berman.

SAMBOLN: And I'm Zoraida Sambolin. It is 30 minutes past the hour.

BERMAN: Our top story this morning -- the deadly, bloody, crackdown in Egypt. Now, it is quiet there this morning. But this was the scene Wednesday as police and protesters battled in the streets of Cairo and beyond. At least 421 people are now dead, that's since yesterday.